The chair of the Wellingon Regional Healthy Housing Group says housing inequities are being highlighted by the presence of Covid-19 in our communities.
Dr Roger Blakeley said today the Government response to Covid-19 “must prioritise warm, dry, safe housing for all”.
“The Covid-19 lockdown has highlighted that being at home is not as safe for some as it is for others,” says Dr Blakeley.
“Research shows damp, cold and overcrowded homes are a significant risk factor for respiratory illnesses and other health issues.“
Nevil Pierse, deputy director of He Kainga Oranga, the Housing and Health Research Programme at University of Otago, says people with lower incomes are at higher risk of contracting Covid-19.
There's concern at a lack of inspections after landlords were ordered to insulate their properties. (Source: Other)
"And evidence from the outbreaks in the USA and Europe has already shown that death is far more likely for Covid-19 in those with existing respiratory conditions, many of which are strongly related to cold damp housing in New Zealand,” he says.
“The research also shows that insulating houses is very effective in reducing hospitalisations from these respiratory conditions,” he adds.
Dr Blakely says New Zealand now has an opportunity "to change the trajectory for many vulnerable families if we invest in retrofitting current housing stock".
Wellington renter Julie Barns has four children between the ages of 10 and 18 and a husband who is currently living with cancer.
She says her previous landlord “did not care” about providing a healthy home, which Ms Barns believes contributed to one of her children having monthly visits to hospital.
“It was cold, damp and there was black mould all the time. I was forever wiping down windows and walls,” she told 1 NEWS.
She said the house had a heat pump "but it was so old it didn’t work when it was turned on".
Ms Barnes’ daughter has asthma, which constantly flared up over the course of their tenancy. She says paying rent to the landlord was “just like giving away dead money”.
The family put up with living in the rental for two and a half years and it wasn’t until a friend of her husband's stepped in and offered a property to the family that things began to change.
The new home needed a “bit of doing up”, which she and her husband lent a hand to, and along with help from the landlord and the Sustainability Trust the family was ensured a far safer home than their previous one.
Having been in their new rental for about eight months, Ms Barns says her daughter has only had one asthma-related hospital visit.
She says property owners should be screened before they start renting out a house.
“They should sit a test to see if they are fit for purpose because some people do not deserve to be landlords,” she says.
“The landlord we have now, even though he is a friend, he is still following what the Government is saying.”
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